The PDA believes that the rate of pay for trainee pharmacists in England has become too low in real terms and needs to be increased if the government are serious about achieving their objectives as stated in the NHS workforce plan, to expand annual training places for pharmacists by 29% to around 4,300 by 2028/29.
Due to the cost-of-living crisis, minimum wages in general are rightly increasing, however the PDA believes this has positioned the trainee pharmacists rate in England far too close to those minimum levels and that it no longer reflects the contribution trainee pharmacists make to patients’ care, which is evidently better recognised in other nations. While the pharmacist role continues to appear on the Shortage Occupation List, this also does little to attract potential future pharmacists to the MPharm course in England, over other more attractive propositions.
After qualifying with an MPharm degree, or passing the OSPAP course if they were previously a qualified pharmacist in another country, those seeking to register as a pharmacist in Great Britain must complete a year of supervised practice at the end of which they must be signed off by their supervisor and then pass a registration exam set by the General Pharmaceutical Council. Thereafter they can register as a pharmacist in Great Britain.
During the trainee year individuals are employed and so receive a salary and while there is a cost to providing their supervision, those employers receive the benefit of the trainee’s work in return. It is established practice that many employers passport the full grant amount received to those employees in salary.
In Scotland, the annual grant awarded to employers for engaging a trainee pharmacist has been £30,229 since 2023. Wales takes a different approach and trainee pharmacists are directly employed by the NHS and undertake placements with different employers. They are paid the starting salary of Band 5 of the Agenda for Change pay scales (£28,407pa).
However, in England the annual grant amount is currently £18,440, with a scheduled increase to just £26,500 from the 2025/26 year (when all pharmacists entering the register will do so as independent prescribers).
These figures need to be considered in the context that, based on 37.5 hours per week:
- The statutory minimum wage for someone aged 21-22 is £19,851pa.
- The statutory minimum wage for a 23+ year old is £20,319pa.
- The real living wage for someone is £23,400pa.
- The London real living wage for someone is £25,642pa.
This means that an employer in England paying any trainee just the current grant amount will be potentially breaching minimum wage legislation if that trainee averages 35 hours work per week or more, a situation which would occur at just over 34 hours per week if the individual has already had their 23rd birthday and therefore qualifies for the higher minimum wage.
The PDA is able to agree higher rates for trainees with some employers, for example agreements with Boots have increased the Trainee rate in central London by 29% in the last year meaning trainees there will now be paid more than £27,000. However, many trainee pharmacist pay rates across community pharmacy are now worryingly close to the minimum wage and create circumstances where it is very possible that a trainee waiting for their successful exam results at the end of their supervised year may have spent twelve months being paid less than some of the junior pharmacy team members working alongside them.
Scott Rutherford, PDA Union NEC representative for Students and Trainees, said: “The foundation training year is not only a professionally challenging year, requiring full-time employment alongside training and studying, but a financially challenging year. For the sake of a one-year contract, trainee pharmacists are often required to find and fund their own housing, travel, exam and registration fees, as well as additional paid courses.
In order for NHS England to deliver its workforce plan for more pharmacists, it needs to improve funding for trainee pharmacists, as not only will more people need to pursue pharmacy as a career, but more employers will need incentive and support to train and supervise trainees.”
The PDA has vast experience in helping generations of trainees with a wide range of workplace issues and as early careers pharmacists they are a key part of the PDA community. The PDA also provides a FREE online revision programme to help trainees prepare for their registration exam.
Meanwhile on a connected issue, PDA Student members are also leading a campaign to highlight the unfair exclusion of pharmacy students from the scope of the NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF). That campaign is gathering pace with multiple members of parliament now responding to the issue, however pharmacy students are currently denied the support available to students studying to join other health professions. This is another area where the PDA believes NHS England could demonstrate how they value pharmacists at the start of their careers and want to ensure a sustainable pipeline of pharmacists for the future.
Learn more
- Opportunities to become a PDA Trainee Pharmacist Representative
- What is it? | Living Wage Foundation
- National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- NHS Workforce Plan for England
- TUC sets out roadmap to a £15 minimum wage and high wage economy | TUC
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